Charles Crane/MDN
John Gruenberg, Career Development Services System director at the Burdick Job Corps, delivers a career development update at the joint meeting of the Community Relations Council and Workforce Industry Council at the Burdick Job Corps gymnasium on Wednesday.

The Burdick Job Corps (BJC) Center in Minot hosted its combined Community Relations Committee and Workforce Development Council meeting on Wednesday to share updates on successes and opportunities for local businesses to build bridges with the workforce of the next generation.

John Gruenberg, the Career Development Services System director, shared some career development milestones from the last half of 2024, which he described as a “whirlwind of opportunities.”

Two welding students at BJC were chosen for one opportunity and traveled to Pascagoula, Mississippi, in the first week of December 2024, which is a manufacturing stop for Ingalls Shipyard. The Ingalls Shipyard has contracts with the U.S. Navy, building ships like destroyers.

“By the end of the first weekend of December, they were both offered a full time job as welders in the shipyard. They went down and represented the center very well and themselves at the program,” Gruenberg said. “We are happy to say that on Jan. 27 they are going back down permanently.”

Gruenberg said the two students’ starting pay was about $55,000. Gruenberg said this opportunity was a first for the BJC, and the pipeline with the Ingalls Shipyard would continue with other trades as well.

Gruenberg shared another avenue opening up for BJC culinary students, who prepared and served the lunch at the meeting, who will have the opportunity in February to travel to Florida to learn and work under chefs at Disney Culinary restaurants.

“I’m really guarded and protective of the students here, because when I heard Disney, they better not go work at the park and I better not see them making hotdogs and fries at one of the kiosks. But that’s not what it is,” Gruenberg said. “They’ll be able to work on a cruise ship and work under a chef with experience.”

BJC culinary students pursuing the experience with Disney Culinary will have to have earned their high school diplomas, completed more than 50% of their culinary training, and completed their ServSafe food handling and management certifications.

Gruenberg also spotlighted three BJC students who have started their career paths at Dakota College of Bottineau, which he said the Job Corps is considering expanding.

“The ultimate goal for me and our staff here is that when our students graduate from Job Corps, we would love for them to earn 20 bucks an hour. That’s the goal,” Gruenberg said.

Another speaker at the meeting was office administration graduate Gabriel Lima, who came to the Burdick Job Corp in 2024 at the age of 21. Lima said his plans for his future were derailed after a traumatic experience heading into his senior year of high school. Lima said he struggled after graduating and bounced around the country before he became aware of the Job Corps and took the leap to change the direction in his life.

“When I came to Job Corps in 2024, I found myself back in the classroom, complete with desks, homework, papers and tests. Job Corps helped to remind me how much I used to love to learn. It reignited my self confidence and confidence in my abilities.”

Lima interned at Minot City Hall and is currently pursuing a degree at Minot State University. Job Corps Workforce Specialist and Minot Mayor Tom Ross commended Lima for how well he adapted to the work at City Hall.

“The staff at City Hall, I think today, are still scratching trying to find a way to get him to work over there while he’s going to school. It’s wonderful. It’s fun to watch students like you grow, not only academically or trade-wise, but also spiritually and in maturity,” Ross said.

Ross implored local employers to engage with the students and staff at the Job Corp to build even more bridges to develop the future workforce.